Flux or solution for coating metals



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BRADY S. RICHARDSON, OF SOOTTDALE, PENNSYLVANIA.

FLUX OR SOLUTION FOR COATING METALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 434,296, dated August 12, 1890. Application filed April 24, 1889. Serial No. 308,427- (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BRADY S. RICHARDSON, of Scottdale, in the county of Westmoreland and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and improved Flux or Solution for Coating Metals with Lead, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The objectof my invention is to coat articles of iron or other metals with'a regular, smooth, and even coating of lead, without previously giving to the metal any coating or galvanizing of other metals for the purpose of preparing them for receiving the lead coating.

I will describe my invention as applied to the coating of sheet-iron; but I do not limit or confine myself to this application; as it is equally applicable for coating steel and cast or malleable iron.

In carrying out my invention I first clean the sheets of sheet-iron from scale by immersing them in a vat containing dilute sulphuric acid, which is steam-heated to render it more active. I then remove the sheet from the acid and wash it with water. The sheet is then placed in a vat containing water, to which is added lime or other alkaline salts to prevent oxidation and act as a flux. I then put the sheet in a vat containing dilute hydrochloric acid, in which is placed a slab bath. After immersion in this solution the sheets are dipped into or passed through melted lead, and as the sheets are withdrawn from the lead a portion of the lead adheres to the surface of theiron,while thesurplus drains 0E into the vat containing the melted metal. The lead thus applied to the sheet of. iron forms a very closely-adherent coating, amalgamating with the iron, which resists the action of the atmosphere, and the sheet, while possessin g more than the rigidity and strength of iron, has all the advantages of being unoxidable. The use of oxalic acid and sulphite of soda in the bath prevents oxidation and causes a more perfect adhesion of the lead to the iron.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent A solution for the preparation of iron for coating it with lead, said solution consisting of chloride of zinc, oxalic acid, chloride of ammonium, and sulphite of soda, as specified.

BRADY S. RICHARDSON.

Witnesses:

R. W. P. RICHARDSON, WILLIAM GIBsoN. 

